I just can’t understand it, you know?
When people have grievances—and yes, people have very real problems and frustrations right now, including tensions over illegal immigration—they turn around and smash up public property. And this includes our environment. What on earth is the point of smashing it up? I know this happens all around the world, but I still can’t believe it when I see it here.

We know who these people are. We can’t name them, but we know exactly who they are. All they seem interested in is burning up and destroying public property—which taxpayers have paid for, mind you—and completely wrecking the environment. We’ve seen it happening just this week in places like Strandfontein and Ocean View.

And then you look at the people who are slowly destroying our wetlands. Frankly, you’d think they’d know better, but they don’t. Just yesterday, there was dog vomit and huge amounts of dog mess left right on the path in the wetland. All week long, I’ve watched women encouraging their dogs to run straight into the pristine vlei, throwing sticks for them to chase. Sadly, this is how South Africans generally treat the environment.

But thankfully, that is not the whole story.
There are others out there who are quietly getting on with vital environmental work, and my hat is completely off to them.

I absolutely love the Save a Fishie story, but these other initiatives are equally fantastic. They show that despite the destruction, there are regular South Africans who truly care, quietly working to heal our land. Make sure you check them out!

My hat is off, especially, to Zoë Prinsloo, who runs Save a Fishie. Not only is she doing incredible work in the coastal areas of Cape Town where she lives, but she has also gone up to Gauteng this month and cleaned up townships there.

The Save a Fishie story is the one that really grabbed me. Zoë and her volunteers spent five days cleaning up areas in Tembisa, Diepsloot, Randburg and Soweto, working with local community groups that refuse to accept that litter, dumping and neglect are simply facts of life. Instead of complaining, they rolled up their sleeves and got on with the job

What a brave young woman. What a fantastic leader. That is true leadership.
While some are busy destroying, here are some other incredible stories showing ordinary people doing wonderful things to protect and restore our environment:

Turning Dumping Sites into Gardens (KwaZulu-Natal)

Through the Green Rising Project, community members in KZN are taking matters into their own hands. In Lamontville, Durban, volunteers took an illegal dumping site right near an old age home—which was causing terrible rodent infestations for the elderly residents—and transformed it into a beautiful biodiversity garden. It has completely restored dignity to the area. Meanwhile, in Albert Park, locals are creating vertical sack vegetable gardens to grow fresh produce and boost the local economy.

Citizen Scientists Taking Charge (Manenberg & Beyond)

Ordinary community members in climate-vulnerable sites—including Manenberg in the Western Cape—are being trained and certified as citizen scientists. Instead of waiting for someone else to fix things, these locals are actively monitoring climate and environmental data to help make real, localized decisions for their neighborhoods.

Healing the Soil with Spekboom (Western Cape)

Across our own province, local communities are mobilizing for large-scale Spekboom planting projects. They are using this miracle plant to fight desertification, restore degraded ecosystems, and actively protect our vital aquifers.

While the destruction of our environment continues apace—often enabled by government negligence and big corporate polluters—these grassroots efforts show that ordinary citizens are no longer just standing by. Communities are galvanizing real, meaningful action. Some have stepped up to become fierce environmental warriors on the front lines, while others are quietly doing the hard work of learning how to heal, protect, and save the ecosystems right on their doorsteps.

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